'Fast Jack' Beckman to replace injured John Force to keep NHRA championship hopes alive

When “Fast Jack” Beckman lost his ride after the 2020 NHRA drag racing season, he went back to his original job — one that he left 22 years earlier to pursue his drag racing dreams — as an elevator technician.

Instead of routinely going 330-plus mph down a 1,000-foot dragstrip, Beckman’s working life became one of going up and down and at a much slower speed. With few other opportunities to race, he had pretty much resigned himself to working on elevators rather than Funny Car motors for the rest of his working life.

However, the 58-year-old Beckman has been lured back to drag racing — and in a big way. NHRA announced Tuesday that the veteran Southern California racer will replace the injured John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS.

"It's been nearly four years since I stood on the throttle, and I thought that feeling was something I'd never experience again,” Beckman said in a press release, per NHRA. “Though the circumstances that brought me back are regrettable, the opportunity presented to me is beyond my ability to find words.

“I'm not replacing John ... nobody could ever do that. John is one of a kind, and his impact on this sport, and my life, cannot be overemphasized. I know how fortunate I am to have been picked to fill in for John.”

Force continues to recover from a traumatic brain injury suffered following a catastrophic engine explosion and resulting crash over a month ago in a race near Richmond, Virginia. He has spent much of the past month hospitalized, including three weeks in intensive care.

Last week, Force was transferred to another facility in Southern California, close to his Yorba Linda, California, home, to continue his treatment and recovery.

While it remains uncertain when — or even if — Force will return to drag racing, Beckman presents a strong replacement, slated to drive Force’s PEAK car for the eight remaining races of the season, starting Aug. 16-18 in Brainerd, Minn.

However, Beckman, who has earned 33 wins in his Funny Car career, will get a test of sorts in a non-points exhibition event, the 47th Annual Cornwell Tools “Night Under Fire” at Summit Motorsports Park, this Saturday evening in Norwalk, Ohio.

Force, who won the 157 ^th race of his storied career earlier this season, was in second place, behind John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock, in the NHRA Funny Car standings at the time of his accident on June 23. Even though Force has missed the last three races, he has only dropped to sixth in the standings and is technically still in the running for the Funny Car championship.

In a unique twist of NHRA rules, if Beckman competes in the last eight races of the season — as he plans to do — he would be eligible to earn points toward giving Force the championship at season’s end. And if that were to happen, it would be Force’s 17 ^th Funny Car crown, thanks to Beckman subbing into the seat of the car in what is being called “Joint Task Force — Mission Championship” (a nod to the series’ primary sponsor, Mission Foods).

Beckman is no stranger to championships himself, having won the 2012 NHRA Funny Car and the 2003 Super Comp crowns. He’s more than ready to get back behind the wheel: “I should be easy to spot in the pits. I'll be the guy who can't stop smiling."